An Honest Review of Vice Drive Golf Balls
Written by Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children. Current Handicap: 1

Vice golf balls made a name for themselves in the market because of their affordability. The most affordable ball in their lineup is the Vice Drive.

I recently played a few rounds with the Vice Drive golf ball, and to be honest, it’s exactly what I expected it to be.

I’ll show you the results I had, what you can expect from the Vice Drive, and whether this one is worth your money. I know sometimes the lowest-priced golf ball in a lineup is appealing, but you do want to make sure it’s the right fit for your game before you make any moves.

Why listen to us? Our team has tested dozens and dozens of the top balls on the market (you can read in-depth review of each here). We keep detailed notes and findings about each one to come up with our recommendations for you.

vice drive golf ball

Overall Rating and Thoughts

The Vice Driveis a good golf ball, fairly priced, and travels a long way.

However, I can’t tell you that the Vice Drive will solve all your issues from tee to green. It’s just not that comprehensive when it comes to technology.

If you are a mid swing speed, on a budget looking for a ball with plenty of distance, get yourself a dozen Vice Drive and see if it has a positive impact on your game. It should!

Overall Score: 8.4/10

Vice Drive Features

There is no doubt that the Vice Drive is a value ball. It’s one of the better deals on the market right now, and it still features some of the technology that Vice has become so well known for.

2 Piece Golf Ball

Vice Drive is a 2 piece golf ball made for distance. If you haven’t already picked up on it with the name “Drive,” the Vice Drive is designed to get your ball moving down the fairway.

The Drive has two parts: an outer Surlyn Construction cover made by DuPont and an interior core. The outer cover is not the premium Cast Urethane you see in the other Vice models or the more premium options on the market.

Surlyn is a lower-priced material, but it does hold up quite well.

Soft Energy Speed Core

The inside of the ball features a Soft Energy Speed Core. The core is designed to compress quite a bit at impact and expand quickly after. This expanding and compressing increases the speed you can get from the ball.

Essentially, if you want more speed and distance from the tee, this is the type of technology that can do it for you.

Alignment on The Green

The new Vice Drive golf balls have a very clean alignment line for use on the putting greens.

These lines will help you get your golf ball set on the right track and aimed directly at your target.

Whether you are new to the game or have been playing your entire life, alignment on the green matters.

312 Dimple Pattern

The Vice Drive has fewer dimples than some of the other models in the Vice lineup. With 312 dimples, the Vice Drive can cut through the air with a more penetrating flight and slightly longer distance.

Vice Drive Performance

I’ll be honest – I don’t set the bar incredibly high for a two-piece ball. However, there are some things that the Vice Drive does really well that you should know about if you are looking for a good value.

Feel and Sound

The Vice Drive is soft. It comes off the clubface soft from the tee and approach shots around the green. Being that it’s a two-piece ball, it’s much easier to compress than something like a 4 piece Pro V1x.

The feel being soft doesn’t bother me. It still feels like you can get plenty of distance with it (and you will). Around the greens, I think the softer overall feel helps make up for the less than perfect Surlyn cover.

Vice doesn’t advertise their overall compression on this ball, but I would put it in the 80-90 range if I had to guess. It’s a good golf ball for the mid swing speed players.

Spin

Spin off the tee was a little higher than I would have liked. You will notice that ball flight is quite high with the drive, and it doesn’t roll a ton when it hits the fairway.

Still, nothing that was bad enough to keep me away from using it.

The spin on the approach shots was high. I had no issues stopping an iron shot on the green with the Vice Drive. The closer I got to the short irons, the easier it was to stop.

As long as you are hitting the ball with plenty of speed, it has no trouble stopping where you want it to.

Greenside Control

Greenside control is where the Vice Drive struggles a bit. Again, this came as no surprise.

A 2 piece golf ball with a Surlyn cover is not designed for greenside performance. The cover is soft enough that you will have no issues with adjusting to the feel and control of the ball over time.

However, if you are looking for something that you can get up and down easily when you have short-sided yourself, you may struggle with the Vice Drive.

On the greens, I thought the feel was a little soft. In addition, it doesn’t feel as pure as I was hoping for. I think this goes back to cover material.

Distance

The overall distance of the Vice Drive golf ball is excellent. I had no trouble hitting this as far or sometimes even further than a premium golf ball.

In fact, if distance is what you’re looking for, you will be pleasantly surprised with the Vice Drive.

Price

Overall, the pricing is very fair. This is the lowest priced ball in the Vice lineup, and when you compare it to other Vice balls, it still has plenty of performance to offer. Pricing being as low as it is makes the Vice Drive an even better value than you may realize.

 

What I Like About The Vice Drive

Overall, the Vice Drive is a pretty good golf ball. I feel like Vice used just enough of their better technology and materials to make this ball a good value. They didn’t go overboard with performance from all areas of the course, but there is enough here to appeal to golfers.

Distance off The Tee

The Vice Drive has excellent distance from the tee. Expect to be able to launch some drives that are high flying and reach your distance goals with ease. I still think that the mid swing speed player will benefit the most. Slower speeds may want something a little softer.

Spin on Approach Shots

Approach shots, especially with my 7,8, 9, and wedges, had no trouble stopping on the greens. As long as you are going after the ball with a little bit of speed, you can get the Vice Drive to stop where you want it to.

Value

As the lowest priced ball in the Vice lineup and one of the more moderately priced golf balls on the market, I think the Vice provides good value. Don’t expect it to perform like a Pro V1 or a TP5, but as an all-around affordable good golf ball, the Vice Drive is one to consider.

 

What I Don’t Like About The Vice Drive

One of the things I have found about the Vice golf balls I’ve tested is that they don’t pretend to be something they are not. It’s hard to fault the Vice Drive for being less than perfect around the greens when it doesn’t claim to be.

Greenside Spin

Around the greens, the Vice Drive won’t do much for your game as far as spin is concerned. If you need a little more spin, look at something like the Vice Pro. Essentially, with a Surlyn cover and two pieces, there just isn’t enough technology in this ball to get it to stop where you want it.

It’s a Little Soft Feeling on Big Shots

On the big shots, with the driver and fairway woods, I like just a little more feedback than the Vice Drive gives. If you have a lot of speed and like to compress the ball, just be aware that this one will feel a little soft.

 

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Brittany Olizarowicz

Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children. Current Handicap: 1